


Sakona Simulator

by ThatRavenclaw



Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: Ayano Aishi (mentioned) - Freeform, F/F, Sabotage, Sakona - Freeform, Teen Angst, stop this trash and end me, this fandom needs more fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-07 14:18:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11625333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRavenclaw/pseuds/ThatRavenclaw
Summary: Saki Miyu's stupid crush on best friend, Kokona Haruka, leads her to scratch the surface of Akademi High's deepest secrets.





	1. Preface

Saki Miyu could not remember the day she met Kokona Haruka.

Neighbors, childhood friends, classmates, best friends - they had done it all together. From the countless inside jokes they shared, to the petty fights spawned from teenage girl drama, to the secrets whispered late at night when the rest of the world was asleep; It was the kind of friendship only shown in the movies, where the main character would take a bullet for the other. Yes, if she were questioned, “Would you die for Kokona?” Saki would answer a firm, “Yes.” without hesitation.

One would think that Saki would be satisfied with just that.

Yes, the two girls did share the kind of ideal, innocent and coveted friendship that only exists in fiction. Yet despite this feat, life remained starkly non-fiction. And if anybody were to know the truth, nobody would covet Saki Miyu’s relationship with Kokona Haruka. 

You see, in the movies when the main character secretly pines over a cute stranger they met in a coffee shop, fate has a way of aligning everything just so. The puzzle pieces fall together perfectly and after a rollercoaster of 2 emotionally charged hours, the two main characters reunite beautifully. Apologies are made; Kisses are shared; the orchestra music swells and the credits roll. 

Fate had done no such thing for Saki. Because after Saki realized her feelings during the start of her third year of high school, 2 months ago, she was beginning to wonder if it was even right to believe in things like fate or destiny or soulmates.

But if fate hadn’t brought her and Kokona together in the first place, she wouldn't have believed in it at all. 

But as they say, fate is a cruel mistress. And when it came to Saki’s love life, she had been very cruel indeed.

Because being Kokona’s best friend, Saki knew about Konoka’s massive crush on a boy in their class, Taro Yamada. 

This crush, that seemed to pop out of nowhere, manifested around the same time that Saki’s did. It was also the worst thing to happen to Saki Miyu in her entire life. 

During these _awful_ two months, Saki has had to listen to her friends chat up Kokona during lunch time about her precious _Taro-kun_. It was all Yamada this and Yamada that. His name was spoken so frequently that Saki honestly believed that she heard his name more in the two-month span than she had in the first 2 years of high school. 

She had even been in the same class as him for those first two years.

It was all _”Kokona, don’t you think Yamada-senpai looks cute today?”_ and _“I wonder what Taro-kun is reading today.”_ Please, Saki was trying to eat.

Well, who was Saki to complain. This was a best friend’s job, after all: to listen to endless gushing about crushes and to them do their hair to look cute for said crush. 

So, it was only natural that Saki knew too much about Yamada than she would consider healthy for a distant acquaintance at best to know. It was only natural that Saki knew that Kokona wanted to eat on the rooftop alone with her “Taro-kun” on Tuesday. 

Of course, this would prove to be a very big problem for Saki - for more reasons than she had originally anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saki's angst transcends her years.


	2. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saki looks through a window and sees something she shouldn't have seen.

Tuesday morning. On Saki and Kokona’s shared walk to school, Kokona gingerly cradled 2 homemade bentos in her arms. One was for herself. The other for the boy she liked. 

They were wrapped in cute, matching cloths with cute animals on them - blue for him and pink for her. And although Saki hadn’t seen her make them, she was sure that every ingredient had been meticulously chosen and carefully placed inside. That’s just how Kokona was – a perfectionist at heart with a penchant for all things cute.

Everything about the lunch was cute. And today, everything about Kokona was cute too. Simple makeup that gave her a ‘natural beauty’ effect and emphasized Kokona’s magenta-colored eyes. After all, it was in these eyes that reflected a young girl’s first love. 

Hair falling just above her shoulders like pink waterfalls encased in tight twin spirals that bounced with every step Kokona took. Everywhere the girl went, she left the faint scent of strawberries in her wake. 

Kokona sighed loudly beside Saki. Kokona in her ironed blouse and perfectly polished shoes, adjusted her tie and dusted off her dustless skirt. She fiddled with the hem of said skirt, adjusting where it sat comfortably on her hips and brushing her hands over the fabric once again. She was probably making sure it was flowy enough and short enough in the kind of way that no boy, not even Taro Yamada, could resist.

“Today’s finally the day, huh?” Kokona asked, small smile slipping onto her face. 

Saki shot her a quick smile. Smiling was not hard to do when Kokona was involved, especially when she was happy about something. Even when Saki’s stomach churned and roiled at the thought of Taro Yamada being the cause of that happiness, she found it easy to shove those thoughts away and focus on the lightness of Kokona’s steps and the smoothness of her voice. 

“It is,” Saki acknowledged. “Excited?”

“Not really…” Kokona trailed off before catching Saki’s confused gaze. “More nervous.” she finished.

“Of course,” Saki nodded. “It’s been a long time coming after all.”

Kokona chuckled. “Yeah, the girls have been pushing me for a long time.” 

“Yeah and it’s about time. It's a lot better than hearing you say, ‘I’m gonna ask him for sure tomorrow, Saki! You just wait and see.’ And then you never do it.”

Saki loved to tease Kokona. Teasing Kokona was comfortable action, as comfortable as their days in middle school – a time before there was a Taro Yamada to worry about. One thing hadn’t changed since middle school though, and it was that Kokona had never stopped prickling every time at Saki’s teasing.

Kokona gasped. 

“Until yesterday! And guess what you did wait. And you did see it!” She exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Saki.

“Not really. And I’m sure that if I were there to actually see it, I would have died from second hand embarrassment.” She replied, bumping into Kokona’s shoulder playfully.

“Hey, be careful!” Kokona said, moving her precious bento boxes away from Saki. She angled her body away from Saki, cradling her bento boxes like a mother bear would her cubs. For a second, Saki thought that she was serious, but Kokona’s smile betrayed her. “I don't wanna spill them.” 

“They're in a container.”

“Yeah but they could get all jumbled up if I move them around too much.”

“I think your brain is the only thing here that's jumbled up.”

Kokona turned back to glare at Saki. “My brain is NOT jumbled up!” She said, lips curling into a smirk. “You just don't understand because you've never had a boyfriend like me.”

Saki ruffled at the words. It was true, but Saki figured this wasn't the best time to tell Kokona that she would have preferred a girlfriend. Instead, she settled for a small exhale and a quick retort.

“Wow. Can you really call him your boyfriend if you didn't actually confess to him?”

“It was implied.” Kokona said indignantly, brushing Saki off. “Besides… I thought I could get away with never actually confessing and that my feelings would be obvious to him.” 

_Not to a bonehead like that._ Saki thought.

“What? I thought you were Kokona “romance master” Haruka. You’re always complaining about manga protagonists for not doing everything perfectly. And you’re always itching for proper confessions.” 

“All their problems stem from miscommunication. If they just talked to each other, they’d have time to actually enjoy each other’s company.”

“I know, I know. But Kokona, you can't just go through life implying that you like someone and hoping they take the hint. Do you think your mom just looked at your dad, sending telepathic signals until he liked her? No! She didn't!” 

Kokona grimaced. “Okay first of all I don't want to know about my parents’ romance and second of all you shouldn't want to know either.” 

“I find it charming.”

“I’m sure you do.” She said cringing away from the words like she would to a school lunch or an outfit with horribly clashing colors.

With nothing meaningful left to say, Saki dropped the subject of Mr. and Mrs. Haruka's love life. Kokona was all too happy to oblige. She began to hum beside Saki, excitement shining through in the easygoing tune. 

The school gates were drawing closer with every step. Other students were already passing through the ornate gates.

Suddenly, Kokona squealed and grabbed Saki’s arm, pulling the two of them against the stone wall that bordered the school grounds. “There he is!” She said in a loud whisper, pointing unsubtly at a plain boy walking alone, half-shrouded under the shade of the sakura trees. Taro Yamada, quiet and unsociable as always. 

But as soon as Saki thought those words, she saw a flash of orange running up behind the boy. Two orange twin tails streamed behind the girl as she wrapped her arms around Yamada’s neck, practically tackling him. Osana Najimi. Osana-chan seemed to be the only person who Yamada was close with and the only one who would dare to violently back hug a loser like him. 

Kokona dropped Saki’s arm, causing Saki to look at her friend. One second she was full of life and excitement, the next she was staring self-consciously at her homemade bentos. 

“Come on. We don’t wanna be late.” Saki said, lightly resting her hand on Kokona’s upper back. Saki walked a little bit faster and guided her past the duo. But after a few steps, it was clear that Kokona wasn’t paying attention anymore; Her head down and arms wound tightly across her chest, steps short and painfully slow. She was lagging so much that Saki let her arm drop from its resting place, but Kokona did not react to it.

It hurt. And it honestly pissed her off. How could Kokona could be so affected by Yamada just hanging out with his friend? 

“Whatever.” Saki muttered, trudging forward, heels creating echoing noise on the concrete path. 

It was selfish; it wasn't right to just leave Kokona alone without cheering her up, but Saki had done her share of comforting her best friend. And from that traitorous part of Saki’s mind, her own voice whispered that if Kokona saw that Yamada would never return her feelings, she would forget about him altogether. Then Saki would have Kokona all to herself. 

She really was selfish, wasn’t she? Ditching Kokona like that without saying a word?

Well it was too late to go back now.

  


* * *

  


Saki decided to go through her day as normally as she could. She greeted Taisho-sensei, who stood by the gate, with a respectful “Good morning.” Today was just like any other day, right? There’s no reason to treat it differently than any other day when Kokona would go mindlessly pine after Taro Yamada - which was every day.

After switching her shoes out in her locker, she walked to the courtyard where her friends in the cooking club usually gathered in the morning. 

“Morning,” Saki greeted with a small smile.

“Morning!” The group echoed.

“We were wondering where you were,” said Mei. “But where’s Kokona-senpai? Is she with Yamada-senpai already?”

Saki shrugged and crossed her arms. “I don’t know. I’m not her keeper.”

“But aren’t you though?” said a smirking Musume, butting into conversations like usual.

Saki frowned. There were plenty of other people for Musume to hang out with and Saki always had a sneaking suspicion that she did it just to piss Saki off.

“What’s wrong senpai? Trouble in paradise?” Yui asked. And if Saki didn’t know better, she would have thought that the question was tinged with a bit of malice.

“It’s nothing to worry yourself about, Yui-chan.” Saki dismissed with a wave of her hand. “Kokona is probably putting her bento in the classroom. In fact, I’ll go catch up with her right now. We’ve still got-“ she paused to check her phone “5 minutes before the bell.” 

“See you during lunch, senpai.” said Mei. 

“Later,” said Saki with a wave to the other girls. 

She hoped that Kokona would still be in her classroom when she got there. If she wasn’t there and she wasn’t with the cooking club, she could be anywhere. 

Honestly Saki didn’t know exactly what she wanted to say to Kokona when she saw her, if she saw her. Kokona wouldn't be around for lunch because she was eating with Yamada on the roof so the only time Saki would see her was after school had ended. 

Saki made her way up to the third floor, but as she made her way to class 3-1, her footsteps slowed. The doors were closed so Saki curiously peeked through the window. Her head tilted in confusion at what she saw. She had been correct. Kokona had stopped by her classroom to drop off the bento and her book bag, however that wasn’t the strange part.

Kokona wasn’t in the room, and in her place was a girl she had ever seen before. She had to be a kouhai because Saki didn’t recognize her. Saki also didn’t know why she was bent over her best friend’s desk, fiddling with her homemade bentos. 

Saki edged away from the window and watched cautiously. Something told her she didn’t want to be caught by this girl. 

What was going on? Someone was tampering with the bentos Kokona made for Yamada and herself? But why? Even if she wasn’t doing anything weird to the bento, it was still suspicious: an underclassman in a senpai’s classroom alone? 

Saki ducked away from the window. She had never been one for confrontation. When the girl was done, she would go in and see what she was doing. 

Saki walked to the vending machine while keeping her ears peeled for any noise coming from the classroom. She pretended to dig in her book bag for some yen. The whole time, Saki kept wondering what was going on. Something told her that she wasn’t looking at Kokona’s bentos just to admire it. Whatever the girl was doing, it wasn’t good. 

She just couldn’t figure out why. Maybe she had some reason to dislike Kokona. Or dislike Yamada? Saki couldn’t see clearly whether she was messing with the pink bento or the blue one. It was possibly both for all she could know. 

Ssskkkk. Saki startled when she heard the door sliding. 

She pulled out her money and slid it in to the machine. 

She turned back to peek in the direction of the classroom. It looked like the girl had exited out the far doorway instead of the one Saki was watching through. Saki silently watched as the mysterious girl’s black ponytail swished as the descended the stairs until she was out of view.

_‘What a relief,’_ she thought and turned back to the vending machine. She immediately regretted actually putting money into the damn thing. The only option was soda. Saki hated soda.

She sighed and decided to just leave the money in the machine. Looks like today was some guy’s lucky day, but not her’s.

But fate had never been on Saki’s side.

When she finally got into the classroom, it looked like nobody had been there to begin with. The bentos were perfectly wrapped back up like nothing had ever happened. 

Yup totally suspicious. 

The sound of the bell sounded in the hallways. 

Damn it. What should she do now?

  


* * *

  


This was the question Saki asked herself back in her own classroom.

Was the issue big enough to tell Kokona? Of course the answer was to be ‘better safe than sorry’… But doing that would sabotage the rooftop date that meant so much to the other girl. 

“…Ok good Sosuke,” Hana-Sensei said, “Next, Saki-chan,” 

“Saki… Saki,” Sora whispered, trying to get her attention.

“Yes?!” Saki exclaimed, jolting upright.

“Read, please,” Said sensei. 

“Y-yes… um…” Saki stuttered as she brought the book up to her face, desperately staring at the words in a futile attempt to find the place that Sosuke had left off on. 

I wasn’t long until Hana-sensei sighed and dismissed her with, “Sit down, Saki.” Perhaps it was out of pity or she was just fed up with Saki. Saki would never know because she never dared to look up. 

“Yes.” Said Saki, taking her seat. _How embarrassing._

“Higaku-kun,” called Sensei.

“Yes,” Higaku answered and read Saki’s part flawlessly from the book.

  


* * *

  


At last, the lunch bell rang at 1:00 p.m. 

Saki gathered her things and went into the hallway to look at the students of 3-1, Kokona’s class, exiting the room. Among them was Kokona, walking next to Yamada and timidly talking to him while carrying the two bentos.

A part of her wanted to tell Kokona about what she saw; but the words withered away in her throat. There was no way she could live with herself if she ruined Kokona’s date for nothing.

So Saki stood and watched from afar like she always had. Because Saki Miyu was not only selfish, but a coward as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sabotage at it's finest. In YanSim, the player can choose either an emetic or a poison to put into the bentos. But this is Sakona Simulator. ~~though the simulator part is arguable~~
> 
> So which will it be, Yan-chan?


	3. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokona's got a hot date with Akademi's most eligible bachelor.

Saki didn’t go to the rooftop very often. 

But after climbing the stairs to the unfamiliar area, she found that she hadn’t been missing out on much. The rooftop was a rather deserted place. 

The kind of people who hung out on the roof during lunchtime were the people Saki expected to be there, that is to say – weirdos and loners. 

Admittedly, Saki wasn’t especially fond of those kinds of people. She only cared about the one person there who wasn’t a weirdo or a loner, her best friend Kokona Haruka. 

Kokona was the reason why she was on the roof in the first place, and the reason why she was acting like one of those weirdos or loners who hung out here regularly. 

“D-do you like the food, Taro-kun?” Kokona stuttered.

Saki frowned when she heard this and peeked her head out from behind the conveniently-placed corner.

Kokona and Yamada were seated on the bench together, sitting close but not _too close._ Of course, it was still too close for Saki’s liking.

Yamada chewed silently for a bit and Saki narrowed her eyes, imagining the terrible things she would have to do to him if he said no.

Luckily for him though, Yamada nodded rapidly. “It’s really delicious, Kokona-chan,” he assured her with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “What did you put in it?” 

Kokona beamed. “You prefer vegetables over meat, don’t you Taro-kun?” 

“Yeah, how did you know tha-“ he replied, but started coughing into his fist furiously. 

“T-Taro-kun? A-are you okay?!” Kokona panicked. 

Yamada doubled over, still coughing, and the contents of Kokona’s homemade bento in his lap spilled all over the drab concrete of the rooftop floor. 

Kokona shrieked his name.

She shot up and her bento went flying as well. She fell to her knees beside him and placed her hand on his back. “Taro-kun?”

Some of the usual rooftop occupants gathered around the sight, obviously in no rush to help the situation in any way.

“Oh God,” Yamada groaned, body suddenly lurching. He suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. He stood, breaking free from Kokona and madly sprinted toward the staircase. 

Meanwhile, Kokona was left kneeling on the floor, staring in the direction that Yamada had ran. Her head dropped down, and she started to tremble slightly. 

Saki was too far away to see the tears that she knew welled in Kokona’s eyes. 

Saki sighed softly and straightened up. She jogged over to Kokona and kneeled beside her. 

“Kokona? Are you okay? What happened?” 

Upon seeing her, Kokona let out a sob and clung to Saki, openly crying on her shoulder. Saki stroked her hair and shushed her, whispering comforting words in her ear. 

The crowd of girls whispered amongst themselves, especially the Basu twins, who made almost no effort to hide exactly what they thought about the situation.

“Get out of here you guys,” Saki said to the small group. “C’mon, this isn’t Kokona’s fault.” 

The occult girl looked shocked that someone directly addressed her and scampered away, which Saki was glad for. 

Unfortunately, it looked like the Basu sisters and that girl, Midori Gurin, weren’t going to heed her advice so easily. 

Inkyu scoffed while her purple-haired counterpart, Sakyu, said with a huff of laughter, “Whatever you say, Miyu-san.” 

“You should really make up your mind, Saki-chan. Put a leash on her if you don’t want her running around everywhere.” Inkyu sneered. And with that, the two finally sauntered off somewhere. 

Saki frowned as she watched them go. 

That only left Midori standing there. She was looking down at the two of them with bright, curious eyes. 

“What are you looking at?” Saki was really not in any mood for Midori’s antics. There was only so much of the air-headed girl that any sane person could withstand.

“Hmmm…? Nothing, just that I hadn’t expected something like this to happen. I hadn’t read about this on the last update post.” Midori said. She held her hand up to the side of her mouth, whispering the last sentence with a smile, like it was an inside joke between the two of them. 

“…Unexpected things happen all the time, Midori-chan.”

She seemed to ponder the words for a bit, index finger resting on her chin just under a pair of pouting lips. “Well, that’s true but-” the phone in her hands dinged, cutting her off. “Ah! It looks like he put in the update before posting this time. Never mind, Saki-chan.” 

Saki didn’t know how to respond to that so she didn’t bother.

“But um – word of advice, Saki-chan. I’d advise you to talk to info-chan! Though now that I think about it, she’ll probably find you first.” 

She figured the best course of action was to humor the girl. “Okay. I’ll keep an eye out, then. Goodbye Midori-chan.”

“Bye-bye Saki-chan!” she said with a wave as she skipped off.

Finally, Saki thought and turned her attention back to the distressed Kokona. 

Kokona couldn’t answer even if she wanted to. Whenever Kokona cried, she cried _hard_. It was like everything inside her just spilled over until she was completely empty and ready to be filled up until the next session of waterworks.

“Yamada’s gonna be okay, Kokona. I saw him running to the bathroom. Whatever happens, he’s gonna be fine. Everything is fine.”

The truth was, Saki didn’t know if Yamada was going to be okay. She didn't even know what happened to him. All she knew was that it was that kouhai girl’s fault. 

The question was whether to tell Kokona or not.

By now, Kokona’s sobbing had turned into mild sniffling and she was grabbing onto Saki less tightly. 

“Come on, Kokona. Let’s get up. Let’s find Yamada. He’s probably in the infirmary. It’ll make you feel better to see him.” Saki coaxed, starting to stand. 

“No, no, no!” Kokona said, clinging to Saki’s uniform in an attempt to pull her down. “There’s no way I can face him again after what happened! He must have been allergic to my food; I feel so guilty!” She sobbed again. 

“No, Kokona don’t feel guilty. It’s not your fault. Actually, ok this might sound crazy but I-ah!” 

A Hatsune Miku song began to play _loudly_ from her pocket.

“What the-“ 

When she took the phone out, she was surprised to see that despite her ringtone playing, she got a text message from an unknown number. 

The song got to a particularly high part and Saki flinched away, repeatedly pressing the button to lower the volume. It was odd. Saki always had her phone on silent. 

“What was that Saki?”

“Don’t know. Weird text message.”

“A text? What does it say?”

Saki opened the message.

 **UNKNOWN:** _Saki, I would highly advise you not to tell anyone about what you saw this morning._

Involuntarily, Saki glanced at Kokona only to find the other girl looking worriedly at her. Damn it. After all this time, she was still caught off guard when he met Kokona’s eyes unexpectedly. Quickly, Saki typed out a response:

 **ME:** _Who is this? What do you want?_

 **UNKNOWN:** _Are you illiterate? Don’t. Tell. Anyone. If you do…_  
_[Picture attachment]_

The next message was a photo of Saki walking up the stairs at school. But it was taken at a very… unflattering, low angle from behind. Judging from how the picture was framed, Saki could tell that the photographer hadn’t just happened to get a perfect shot up her skirt.

Saki couldn't help how her cheeks flared red with embarrassment. 

**UNKNOWN:** _I’ll send this image to the entire school._  
_And if that doesn’t persuade you, I have more dirt on you and your little crush there._

“Saki? What is it?” Kokona asked, her eyes wide with concern as she wiped tears out of her eyes. Her perfect make-up from that morning had been long ruined, but she still looked beautiful.

“Nothing. Just a wrong number.”

“But why did your phone ring if it was a text? And it was really loud too.”

“Uh- I don’t know. There must be something wrong with my phone or something.” 

Kokona sniffed. “Okay…”

Saki put the phone in her pocket and stood up. She’d deal with the mysterious number later. She extended her hand to Kokona. 

“Thanks,” she said as she grabbed it. Her eyes were still tearstained but she looked like she had calmed down. 

Kokona sighed and buried her face in her hands. “Aaahhh what am I gonna do…” 

“It’ll be fine, Kokona.” 

“No it’s noooott! Uuughhh…”

The sound of the bell sounded from the rooftop speakers.

“Uuughhh..” she moaned again. “Saki I can’t go back to class! What if he’s there?”

“That’s why I told you to visit him so you could talk to him!”

“Arghhhhhh!"

Saki pursed her lips. The time remaining for Saki to keep her perfect attendance was ticking down, but was she really going to ditch Kokona like she had this morning? 

Just then, Kokona’s eyes lit up with an idea. “Why don’t we just ditch class?”

As soon as the words left Kokona’s lips, Saki felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. 

**UNKNOWN:** _Don’t leave the school. We still have unfinished business to discuss._

Perfect attendance was overrated. “Where should we go?” Saki asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silly Saki... you shouldn't keep secrets from your friends.


	4. Rival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saki and Kokona pay everybody's favorite senpai a visit.

On their way to the swimming pool, the duo found that the quickest path was past the infirmary. 

“Let’s go around,” Kokona hissed, tugging at Saki’s wrist. 

Trying to keep her voice down, Saki responded, “No way; just don’t look if you don’t wanna see him,”

“Oh my God, Saki you don’t even like Taro-kun.” Kokona said in her exasperated voice.

“Doesn’t mean I want him to die.”

“He’s not dead!” The other girl spat, eyes soon growing wide when she realized she had not whispered that sentence. Both girls grimaced and held their breaths, waiting for any movement from the infirmary. 

After a few moments when none came, Saki lightly grasped Kokona’s wrist and pulled her toward the infirmary. Kokona reluctantly followed her lead, grumbling quietly as she did so. 

It was true: Saki did not hate Taro Yamada – despite having several very good reasons to do so. She could not fault him for being the object of Kokona’s eye even as jealousy bubbled in her veins every time Kokona even looked at him. So, because Saki did not hate Taro Yamada and she did not want the boy to die, she curiously peered through the window of the sliding door. 

But curiosity killed the cat and Saki very much regretted her newfound habit to look through windows. Every time she had, she saw something she wasn’t meant to.

Taro Yamada was not dead. On the contrary, he seemed to be having the time of his life. In a split second, Saki took in the situation. 

Yamada was lying on the small bed, but he wasn’t alone. He was joined by the school nurse. The school nurse, whose white dress rode up dangerously on her thighs as she spread them to bracket Yamada’s body. The new substitute nurse who was beautiful and young, but also an adult (!!) was looking down at Yamada’s face and cupping his cheek In her hand. She leaned down to bring herself closer to Yamada’s face, bubblegum pink hair falling like a curtain and obstructing Saki’s view of Yamada.

Saki gasped and immediately ducked down, pulling Kokona down with her. 

“Saki wha-?” Kokona started to ask before Saki cut her off with a sharp “Shh!” And pressed her index finger to her lips.

This was bad. Really bad. Worse than what happened this morning, worse than what Saki had ever experienced in her entire life thus far. Questions swirled in her mind like a whirlpool. What did Yamato think he was doing? What did that nurse think she was doing? Were they in a relationship? What was happening in the moments that Saki had turned to face away from the door? Because although Yamada was a fool, he would be the world’s biggest idiot if he wasn’t enjoying himself at the moment.

One question rose above the others: How would Kokona react when she heard? Saki cringed at the answer she already knew.

She took a deep breath and turned to her troubled partner. She kept her finger over her lips in the shh gesture to both remind Kokona to stay quiet when Saki revealed what she saw and also to remind herself not to let her internal screaming actually escape the confines of her spinning mind. 

Saki met Kokona’s gaze and said these next words with extreme reluctance, “The nurse and Yamada are getting it on.”

Kokona’s eyes grew wide and before she could yelp out a shocked, “What?!” Saki clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling the sound. She looked worriedly over at infirmary doors, praying that nobody had heard.

Saki felt a buzz in her pocked and she jumped 10,000 feet in the air. Damn, probably that annoying unknown person, she thought as she slipped her phone out of her pocket.

 **UNKNOWN:** _Take a picture of what you see through the infirmary window._  
**UNKNOWN:** _Do it and I’ll delete that picture._

Saki was shocked to say the least. On one hand, of course she didn’t want to be put at this mysterious Unknown’s mercy forever. But on the other hand, she really did not want to be caught peeping by the nurse and Yamada; Getting caught taking a picture would be even worse. 

“Saki?” Kokona whispered.

“Kokona, I have to take a picture of Yamada and the nurse.”

“What-”

“Well I don’t have to do it, that’s the point but if I don’t do it then… then…” Saki trailed off. What a coward, she couldn’t even say it. That’s why she couldn’t take the picture – because she was a coward. But Saki was also the kind of coward who would continue to answer to this unknown’s every beck and call as long as they had that terrible picture. 

“Saki…” Kokona said gently, so softly and full of concern that Saki had to look up to meet those magenta eyes. “If someone’s telling you to do these things, you don’t have to-“

“No, it’s not like that. Not- not exactly anyway… it’s blackmail Kokona... they’re blackmailing me.”

Kokona gasped. The look in her eyes filled Saki with guilt. Couldn’t she even do one thing without hurting Kokona in the process?

Her phone buzzed in her hand, temporarily shocking her out of her self-pity.

 **UNKNOWN:** _Because you seem to be taking your sweet time, let me sweeten the pot._  
**UNKNOWN:** _Do this for me and consider all the secrets I have amassed on you and Kokona Haruka buried in my grave with me. And do hurry, Saki-chan. Time is of the essence._

“Is that them?” Kokona questioned softly.

Saki nodded solemnly. “Something came up. Gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Cover me.” 

Kokona did as she was told and Saki peered through the window once more. Damn - How long had it been? She had spent less than 30 seconds talking with Kokona but it felt like an eternity. So, Saki didn’t know whether or not to be grateful when she saw saw Yamada in the same compromising position. The nurse had brushed her her behind her ear, and Saki had gained the perfect photo op.

Shakily, she brought her phone up to the window, not daring to look through the window herself and choosing to awkwardly hide herself from view and rely on the phone’s display to aim the camera.

Desperately trying to steady her hands, Saki snapped a single photo, only realizing her mistake a moment too late. 

There was nothing she could do as she watched her phone’s flash light up as her camera captured the millisecond before everything went to hell in a handbasket. 

Through her phone’s display, she saw Taro Yamada’s shocked face emerge from under the waterfall of bubblegum hair and as Saki tore her gaze away from her phone, she heard a large and unmistakable crash of some item. 

Saki’s gaze met Kokona’s. She saw her own deer-in-the-headlights reflected back at her. “Run.”

Kokona, who had been confused and left in the dark this whole time, seized Saki’s hand and pulled her back away from the door. The two girls bolted down the hallway together. Kokona pulled open the door for an empty supply room and the two disappeared inside. Kokona closed the door gently, entrapping the two together. 

The small room could barely be called a supply closet. It was empty save for a large rectangular chest, silent save for the soft breaths of two girls out of breath. They paused for a beat, neither daring to speak. 

Saki thought she heard some muffled voices and maybe the sound of a loud bang, but after that it was completely silent. After about a minute, Saki said in a voice that was just a tad bit louder than the silence, “Do you think he’s out there?”

Kokona shrugged and responded just as quietly, “I don’t hear anything.”

Saki crept towards the door and ever so slightly cracked it open. Looking through the gap, she saw that the sliding door of the infirmary had been opened. It was the same door that Saki had taken the picture through. The sight of the open door put her on edge, but she couldn’t see any movement from inside.

Keeping her eyes on the open doorway, she pushed the supply closet door open and slipped out of the room. Kokona followed shortly and the two backed up until they had made their escape outside. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Saki turned to Kokona nervously. The other girl was probably shocked and heartbroken at what just happened. 

Kokona had her head down, the reality of the situation probably settling in on her.

“Saki…” Kokona breathed. 

Saki held her breath. 

Kokona raised her head to look at her. “Tell me what’s going on.” Magenta eyes pleaded for the truth. 

“Where to start…” Saki said, scratching the back of her neck. She took a deep breath and looked as far into the distance as she could, not brave enough to meet Kokona’s eyes as she continued. “Well, this morning I went to find you. I went to your classroom and I saw a strange girl messing with your bentos.”

Kokona gasped. Saki cringed.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you any of this sooner. I feel like this all could have been avoided if I had told you in the first place…” she admitted, eyes flitting up to meet Kokona’s for a second before looking away again. 

Saki shakily continued when Kokona didn’t respond. “A-Anyway, went to the rooftop while you were eating with Yamada. B-Because I was worried… and I saw Yamada collapse and then you were crying and then I got some texts from some unknown person… 

“They had some s-some pictures of me and said that they had secrets about you too… They were the one who told me to take that picture of Yamada. They said that they would delete the picture of me and that they wouldn’t share the secrets if I took it.” 

Finally finished, Saki sunk to the ground and leaned her back against the school’s wall. Kokona joined her, still silent. 

After an eternity, she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to ruin your date with Yamada.” 

“Saki, it could have been really dangerous.”

“I know, I know.” 

Kokona huffed, still upset with Saki but not too angry. 

“So this unknown person… they had secrets about us?” Kokona confirmed, disgusted.

“Yeah…” Saki lamented. “I don’t know what about but they said that they wouldn’t do anything if I took a pic of Yamada. No idea why though.”

Kokona laughed without mirth. “Ha. I bet we’ll never know why.” 

Saki silently agreed. “Speaking of which,” she said while pulling out her phone, “I have to send it to them.” While she did so, Saki put no effort into hiding the messages from Kokona this time. 

As soon as the message was sent, Saki felt the vibrations of the response. 

**UNKNOWN:** _I am nothing if not a woman of my word so let me assure you that your secrets will remain as such._  
**UNKNOWN:** _That being so, we no longer have a reason to meet after school._  
**UNKNOWN:** _But since I like you Saki-chan, let me give you a piece of advice. Stay away from Taro Yamada._  
**UNKNOWN:** _There are some unpleasant things happening at this school that a sweet girl like you shouldn't have to bother herself with._

Saki wasn’t sure how to respond to that so she didn’t. Not that she wanted to continue her correspondence with Unknown anyway. 

“Ew what a creep.” Kokona said, head hovering next to Saki’s shoulder as the two stared at the small device. 

“Tell me about it. ‘Stay away from Taro Yamada?’ Like what even?” Saki said, chuckling lightly at the ridiculousness of the situation. 

Kokona let out her own little huff of laughter beside her. Saki looked over at her best friend. The girl seemed to be pondering something, but whatever that thing may be slipped Saki’s mind. Even after all these years of knowing Kokona, she could really never tell what she was thinking. 

“Well… It’s not like this ‘Unknown’ is totally wrong…” Kokona said at last.

Saki’s eyebrows knit in confusion. 

“I just mean that…” Kokona trailed off. She sighed and continued, almost cautiously, “I’m starting to see what this person's saying.” 

“About Yamada?” Saki asked. Kokona nodded, lips pursed in a small pout. 

“Come on, Kokona. One text and you’re just gonna give up on him? You’ve liked him since school started.” 

“It’s not giving up if there was nothing to win in the first place.” She said resolutely, brushing her bangs out her eyes. She was full on pouting now, shoulders stiff, eyes downcast, disappointment washing over her so plainly that Saki didn’t have to read her thoughts to know what she was thinking. 

Saki circled her arms around her best friend’s shoulders, pulling Kokona’s head down to rest on her shoulder. Pink hair pooled by her neck, overlapping with Saki’s own turquoise twin tails. Two pairs of eyes looking into the same distance, two girls softly breathing in the same air, sharing the same space. Saki hoped it was enough to express to Kokona everything that she didn’t have the words for. 

“Obviously I didn’t know him as well as I thought… And here I was, thinking I had him all figured out.” 

The cherry blossom trees were just starting to shed their leaves. Saki watched a few of the blossoms float in the light breeze as she pondered Kokona’s words. The sakura blossoms were a faint pink that faded gradually into pure white. Saki idly noticed that they were the same color as Kokona’s lips.

“I thought I knew him too,” Saki let her words be carried like cherry blossoms. “I thought that he was boring, reading all those books every day. Thought that for as good as he grades were, he had to be a real idiot if he couldn't notice you right there. Thought he wasn’t good enough for you, knew that he would never be.” 

Saki quickly glanced at Kokona. Blue eyes met magenta. Saki quirked up a side of her lips. “Good enough for you, that is.” 

Kokona did not return her smile, but she wasn’t pouting anymore. She drew her legs up together and rested her chin on her knees. She wrapped her arms around her legs, curling in on herself. 

“Yamada… I liked his quiet demeanor and quiet intelligence. I thought he was boring too, but that at least his stories might hold something of interest. I imagined what kind of stories were trapped in those books he read, that they were tales of fantasy or adventure or romance. 

“I thought Yamada was like one of those books. He was made of pages and pages and on those pages, words that made up the boy I thought I knew. And the best part? It was all wrapped up for me, bound together in a hardback shell. He was a nice boy I could take with me wherever I went and read at my convenience. A nice distraction from daily life - that’s what good stories are supposed to do right? Whisk you away to somewhere better than real life… Maybe if I had actually paid attention, I would have known that Yamada was nothing like those books. He didn’t even have a spine.” 

“My Taro-kun… A boy who would give me chocolates on Valentine's, who I would read with during lunchtime, and who would stop all those rumors about me.” 

Saki narrowed her eyes. It was sad, but rumors haunted Kokona, and always would for a girl like Kokona. Saki was no stranger to school drama herself and knew firsthand that some rumors were truer than others.

But Kokona always took it harder than her.

People didn’t care how close a rumor was to the actual truth. They just wanted something to gossip about. It was always about the speculation, the mystery, the scandal of it all.

Gossip infested Akademi High like a virus, and it spread like one too.

Rumors about Kokona’s crush on Yamada reached Saki’s ears weeks before Kokona’s not-a-confession confession. But as luck would have it, nobody had seemed to tell Yamada. Though anybody who was not named Osana Najimi seemed to never tell Taro Yamada anything at all, like ever. 

But if Osana had gotten wind of it, she hasn’t done anything about it. Maybe if she had, none of this would have happened in the first place. 

No, of course it wasn’t Osana-chan’s fault. It was Saki’s. If she had told Kokona about that underclassman with the ponytail, if she had confessed her feelings 2 months ago when she’d realized them for the first time, if she hadn’t dragged Kokona past the infirmary against her will… If Saki not had done a million things in her life, maybe she could have saved Kokona from the consequences of her actions. 

Maybe that was one of the reasons Kokona chose Yamada. He was drama free – anything remotely worth talking about was locked up in the pages of those damn books, in stark contrast to Saki. 

Because who would want a girl who drags you to the exact place you don’t want to be, only to find out that the girl is in trouble and the only way to get out of it is to get in more trouble. 

Or that the girl you thought you knew your whole life was keeping a terrible, selfish secret for three years and was probably the reason why those dreadful rumors started in the first place.

Yeah, who would want a girl like that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saki scratches the surface of Akademi High's deepest secrets and nopes the fuck out of there.


	5. Secret

Rumors were a sore subject for Kokona. And thus, it was one of the few topics that hadn’t been talked to death by the pair of best friends. Kokona had never offered and Saki was smart enough to know not to push. Both girls were acutely aware of the rumors and gossip that flowed through the halls of Akademi high. Saki knew that Kokona knew about the same things that she knew about.

It was like buying cigarettes from _that one guy_ behind the gym after school, an open secret.

So, under the petals of the cherry blossoms, Saki wondered if now was the right time to bring it up. 

It wasn’t like Saki herself was very keen on that kind of stuff either. Sometimes, rumors were more like thinly veiled insults, and Saki would be the first to admit that they didn’t roll off her back as easily as she would like. Though in general, Saki didn’t care all that much about what other people thought about her, except if that person was named Kokona Haruka. Saki just couldn’t figure out if it was a good thing or not. 

Kokona had said that she wanted to date Yamada because he would stop all those rumors about her. 

But which rumors? 

Saki couldn’t really think of any that Yamada would directly stop. Various tidbits of gossip and tall tales flitted through her mind, but none really hit the mark. What did Kokona mean by “all those rumors”?

She turned to look curiously at Kokona. “Wait what rumors?” 

Saki feared that Kokona would get whiplash because of how quickly the other girl turned her head to look at her. A rosy pink bloomed in Kokona’s cheeks and she was looking at Saki like she had grown a second zebra head. 

Saki internally cringed, fearing how bad this particular rumor must be. She even had the nerve to be a little bit embarrassed that she didn’t immediately know what Kokona was talking about. 

“Is it that one about you offering hand jobs in the bathroom ‘cause I thought that was debunked before vacation?” Saki asked. 

The rosy pink blush transformed into tomato red. 

“N-N-No!” Kokona sputtered before adverting her eyes and folding her arms across her chest. “…It’s not from last year.”

Something from this year? Third year had only begun 2 months ago and the only Kokona-related rumor Saki had heard was about her crush on Yamada (which was true). It was a bit fun seeing Kokona flustered over such a thing, but it was no fun if she didn’t know what this thing was in the first place.

The confusion must have been evident on her face, because Kokona cautiously looked back at her. 

“You really don’t know?” Kokona asked disbelievingly. 

Saki shook her head. 

Kokona grumbled something sourly under her breath. She took a huffed, pointedly looking everywhere except back at Saki. 

After a slight pause that felt strangely charged with emotion, Kokona admitted, so quietly that Saki strained to hear, “The rumor that I’m gay…” her eyes cut sharply Saki’s, the side of her mouth quirking up into a little half smile, “…. And that I’ve been having a summer fling with you.” 

She spoke the last part of the sentence at a normal voice level, but with the same softness as the beginning of it. Saki wished she could relive those 6 seconds over and over and over again on loop for the rest of eternity. Despite all of the surprise and confusion, regardless of how many new questions and complications this created, Saki couldn’t help but just stare at Kokona’s face, still in the same expression. 

It was everything about that 6 second moment that captivated Saki – No. It wasn’t everything. It was _Kokona._ Everything about Kokona was _captivating_ \- the sparkle of her eyes, the smirk of her lips, the clarity of her voice, the way her ruined makeup smeared down her tear-stained face… but she looked brighter than ever. 

Deep inside her, Saki felt something unfurling inside her, blooming cherry blossoms in the beginning of spring. Saki dared to call this love. 

“W-What?” she barely managed to get out. It was Saki’s turn to blush.

Kokona huffed. It was something between a scoff and a chuckle – amusement laced with contempt. “I figured you already knew.”

Saki shook her head so vigorously her twin tails swished with the motion.

“I thought that was why you’ve been acting all weird since school started - Because you were uncomfortable being with me but you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything.” Kokona said, voice devoid of all the softness of before. 

“What? No, of course not! There’s no way I would be uncomfortable with being around you.” Saki asserted. 

“Really?” Kokona breathed, sounding genuinely relieved. Saki wondered why she would even think that in the first place. “So, not even if I _was_ actually…”

“Gay? No, no of course not Kokona. Why? Are you actually…” Saki felt her heart sinking as the words left her mouth. It was better to be properly rejected than to let a silly crush persist. Even if it wasn’t just a crush anymore it seemed. 

“Gay?” Kokona offered, mimicking Saki’s previous reaction. “No. I’m not. I mean not exactly…”

Not exactly? Saki’s heart was already sinking and like any good captain, she was going down with it. Saki was suffocating under it all. 

“… they call it bisexual. It means you like boys and girls.” Kokona finally finished.

They should call it a breath of fresh air, which is what it was for Saki. But Kokona wasn’t finished just yet. “I-I know that you said you would never be uncomfortable with me, but that was before you actually knew the truth so I understand if-“

Saki grabbed Kokona’s shoulders, forcing their eyes to meet. “Kokona, I would never lie to you about that. I meant what I said.” 

The other girl sighed. “Okay, okay. That’s good. I believe you.” She let out a small chuckle and the tension in her shoulders started to slowly fade. “I-I guess all that gossip had some truth to it after all.” 

“They all have to start somewhere.” Saki replied, releasing Kokona and settling back into her spot on the wall. “Where there’s smoke there’s fire, I suppose.”

Kokona nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face. “So are you saying that the reason you make such delicious strawberry tarts is because you eat your feelings?” 

“Are _you_ saying that we had some sort of “summer fling”? Like we were friends with benefits but it would suddenly stop once summer ends?” 

Kokona flushed at her words. “N-no… I-I didn’t mean to imply that all rumors had some truth behind them… ” 

_If only she knew how wrong she was,_ Saki thought. Its not like Saki had done anything close to a “fling” but there was certainly smoke to this fire. 

“Kokona, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind if they think that we’re in a relationship.”

“…Really?”

The words had flown out of Saki’s mouth before she could catch them. She usually didn’t have a habit of digging herself into holes, but it seemed that today she was getting into all kinds of trouble. 

“Ah, Y-yeah. We’re best friends, right? So close that people think we’re dating... O-or rather, having some sort of fling. Though I would definitely treat you better than some fling of course… haha.” 

Saki seriously considered facepalming herself right now.

Kokona fell silent again. _Great going, Saki. At this rate, she’ll figure it out and you’ll lose your self-proclaimed ‘best friend’ and rumors won’t be the only thing you’ll have to worry about._ She lamented.

Saki turned her eyes back to Kokona. But instead of seeing an embarrassed face brought on by Saki’s awkward statement, Kokona looked like she was lost in thought. She had a somber expression, probably pondering some thoughts that Saki would never know. 

But it was odd. Did Saki’s words really have this effect on Kokona? 

“Is… something wrong?” Saki asked, tentatively extending her hand before quickly thinking better of it and retracting it.

Kokona murmured something under her breath, bringing her hand to scratch the back of her neck uncomfortably. “Not really,” she said.

“Not really?” 

“It’s just-” She let out an exasperated sigh. “I mean… You just - shouldn’t say things you don’t mean, okay?”

“Things I don’t mean?”

“What? So you did mean what you said…? Or… Did that Unknown person tell you something?” 

Okay, now Saki was really confused. 

“Based on all the “secrets” they claim to have and how much they seem to enjoy toying with us, I would have figured… never mind.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Sorry, Saki. Just forget what I said.” 

“No, is something wrong? Come on, Kokona. No more secrets.” 

Kokona sighed again, eyes darting to meet Saki’s before she tore them away again. “Fine. Just- stop looking at me like that.”

“Huh? Like what?”

Kokona stiffly adjusted her position, looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. “All concerned and stuff. It’ll just make it even harder to tell you.” 

Saki patiently waited as Kokona’s shoulders heaved up and down once. Anxiety bubbled at the bottom of her stomach. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take today. 

“This really isn’t how I wanted this to happen, but I suppose that since we promised no secrets…” she trailed off, silently considering something. Suddenly, she started to stand up, dusting off her skirt. Kokona looked down at Saki, who was still sitting in shock. 

“It has to be proper so…” Kokona offered her hand, beckoning her to stand up too. Saki took her hand, letting Kokona guide her up. Once they were both standing, Saki let her grip on Kokona’s hand fall. But Kokona had other ideas, immediately grabbing it again. She also took Saki’s other hand in her’s, left in left and right in right. 

Saki couldn’t help the blush that was dangerously red on her cheeks as she looked down at their joined hands. When Saki looked up again, her eyes were met with Kokona’s soft gaze.

“It’s not perfect, but this is the least I could do.” Kokona said. 

Saki could barely focus on the words; she was hyper focused on their hands. Every little twitch or movement from Kokona were like little electric shocks. Saki tried not to change her grip too much. Was she holding Kokona’s hands too hard? Too loose? 

Kokona took another deep breath and their hands moved along with her actions. “Saki Miyu, I like you. I’ve liked you for a long time, so please go out with me.”

Saki must have had the stupidest look on her face. Her cheeks flared up even more. “W-What?” She stuttered. There was no way she had heard correctly. 

“I know this might come as a shock to you, and I understand if you need some time to think about it… I just hope it doesn’t affect our friendship negatively - so if you decide that you don’t feel the same… please act like this never happened.” Kokona said, bowing her head. She stepped away as she spoke, releasing their hands. Saki wished that she hadn’t.

Saki’s hands fell limp by her sides. 

“I-I-“ Saki pathetically floundered. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

Kokona clasped her hands together in front of her. She looked like she wanted to fold in on herself. 

“You- You like me?” 

“I love you.”

Saki’s heart would have stopped beating if it weren’t pounding at like 100 beats a second right now. Her jaw hit the ground and remained there for several very long seconds. Finally, she managed to wipe the shocked expression off her face with the shake of her head.   
_Get a hold of yourself, Saki. It’s only your childhood best friend and crush that you just fell in love with confessing her love to you._

…

_Confessing her love … to me._

_Kokona loves me._ Saki realized. _Kokona_ loves _me._

“L-like I said, it’s okay if you need time. You don’t have to reply right now…”

Right! A reply!

“I love you too,” Saki said. 

Now it was time for Kokona to be shocked. 

Saki decided that it was finally time to be brave. She took one step toward Kokona and unclasped Kokona’s hands. Saki gently took each of Kokona’s hands in her’s, connecting the two of them again. Kokona’s hands – these hands crafted delicious strawberry tarts in the cooking club after school, they were hands that delicately applied makeup in the morning, hands that took neat notes during class, hands that gripped Kokona’s phone as she texted Saki late into the night. 

Saki spoke again.

“I love you too, Kokona Haruka.” 

She couldn’t wait to repeat those words to Kokona for the rest of her life.

Kokona’s eyes sparkled with what Saki soon realized were tears. “Don’t cry,” Saki said softly. “This is a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is. I just never would have expected…” Kokona trails off 

“Yeah…” Saki clears her throat and turns her head away. “So uh-” she begins before Kokona cuts her off.

“Oh, do I have to everything around here?” Kokona teased, stepping forward to lightly press her lips against Saki’s. 

Saki smiled into the kiss and decided that it was okay to be a little selfish sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't bring myself to make it angsty. Stay tuned for a short epilogue.


	6. Epilogue

Kokona Haruka’s voice crackled through her computer speakers.

“So you love me, huh?” She asked, but it wasn’t really a question. She just wanted to hear the response.

“Yep. Ever since like 20 minutes ago.” Saki Miyu replied proudly.

Kokona’s eyes widened as she held the other girl away from her. “Twenty minutes ago!? I’ve loved you since we were 14!” She said accusatorily.

“I guess I have a lot to catch up on, then.” Saki drawled. Looping her arms around the back of Kokona’s neck, she drew the other girl back in, stealing a kiss.

 _Saki seemed to be a lot less hesitant already._ Info-chan noted. Knowing that you were loved by the person you loved would give someone a nice boost of self-confidence, but that wasn’t all to it.

 _She really is easily influenced. It is a bit of a shame to let her go so easily._ She admitted. Info-chan had never been one for sparing others’ feelings. In fact, it could be said that she made her livelihood in manipulating them. And both Saki and Kokona were ones who let their emotions dictate how they acted. _It was shame, really, but it can’t be helped._ After all, she had made a promise. 

While watching the two girls’ little private moment, Info-chan considered the weight of a promise. Any promise was best broken at the last minute, Info-chan knew. But by then, she would have bigger fish to fry. 

Besides, she already had enough pawns… for now at least. 

Saki really was a sweet girl. There were times when Info-chan wished there were more of them at school, however they never lasted long. That would be entirely too boring. 

She turned her attention to her center monitor. 

The middle seat in the back row of class 2-1. Ayano Aishi was leaned forward in her seat with her legs crossed. Her chin rested on the palm of her right hand. Her left hand rested idly on the top of her desk right next to her untouched pencil. Her stare remained fixated on the same spot in front of her. The occasional blink was the only thing that differentiated her from a statue. 

Info-chan copied the pose, tilting her head down to study the screen over her glasses.

Ayano’s sole motivator seemed to be Taro Yamada. But Info-chan could not afford to be so quick to pass judgement on her. Ayano had the potential to be very dangerous. That was why Info-chan had to be wary – more so than she would have to be if Ayano had already crossed that threshold. 

It was lucky for innocent Kokona that Ayano was not that far gone yet; and it was lucky for Info-chan because it gave her a bit more time to eliminate any extraneous variables. 

She drummed her fingers on her cheeks. A vague sense of something she could only describe as _dread_ lingered in the back of her mind.

Her position as a watcher, a bystander, a puppet master wouldn’t last. But if there was one thing Info-chan hated, it was getting her hands dirty when others could do it for her. 

_That’s what makes me different from you, Ayano._

Different, but not better. Not smarter. Not deadlier. Not more devoted. 

Info-chan leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. She would have to be more dangerous than Ayano; If her plan had any chance of succeeding, it was the only way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your comments and kudos, everyone! It's been fun

**Author's Note:**

> Saki's angst transcends her years.


End file.
